thoughts about food, craft, and living well

Food memories

I am not sure why, but recently I have been craving stuffed cabbage. It’s one of the dishes my mother used to make and I remember it as hearty and filling and flavorful; a wonderful one-dish Sunday supper.

If I cooked with meat it would be easier to recreate my mother’s recipe (which used ground beef and rice in the stuffing), but since I don’t I had to find a meatless alternative. The recipe I finally settled on used Middle Eastern spices instead of the Eastern European flavors that I remember growing up.

Like my mother’s version, this recipe begins with rice; in this case, flavored with turmeric.

Instead of meat, I used lentils,

cooked on top of the stove and then mixed with the turmeric-scented rice, sauteed onions and garlic, toasted almonds and golden raisins.

I carefully unfurled the cabbage leaves and stuffed them with the rice and lentil mixture

(a little surprised that the recipe did not suggest that I steam the cabbage first) and laid the rolls gently in a baking dish. I drizzled them with the simple, cinnamon-spiked tomato sauce and baked the casserole for about 40 minutes.

The result? A hearty, spicy and filling winter meal.

45.523452-122.676207

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

Related

5 Responses

Stuffed cabbage was a favorite at our house too, right around the corner from yours! My mom put raisins in the tomato sauce and it was the special dish I used to ask for on my birthdays. I wonder if our moms ever shared recipes or if it was just a magical thing we had in common and didn’t even realize.